Wag the dog —

Chinese media delighted by Apple apology

Was it really necessary for Apple CEO Tim Cook to publicly apologize to Chinese consumers for questionable customer service? Whether you think it was the right move or not, Monday's apology apparently resonated with the Chinese state media that originally criticized Apple. Reuters reports that Chinese newspapers were quick to change their tune on Apple's perceived "arrogance" when it comes to warranties and customer service, openly praising Apple for responding to consumers.

"The company's apology letter has eased the situation, softening the tense relationship between Apple and the Chinese market ... Its reaction is worth respect compared with other American companies," read a piece by the Global Times published in the People's Daily. The Chinese Foreign Ministry was also reportedly pleased with Apple's response, saying during a news conference that it approved of Cook's letter.

The letter, written in Chinese and signed by Cook (loose Google Translation), was a response to previous criticisms from Chinese state media about Apple's opaque warranty policies. Cook offered an apology for the lack of external communication and promised to increase training for staff, improve how it handles iPhone 4 and 4S repairs, and more. "[W]e always harbor immense respect [for] China; the Chinese consumer is always the top priority of our hearts," reads a translated line from Cook's letter.

As noted by Reuters and echoed by All Things D, Cook's apology was all-but-necessary in order for Apple to continue its strong business trajectory in China. Cook repeatedly cites China in the company's earnings calls as leading the company's growth in device sales and retail, stating earlier this year that he believes China will soon become Apple's single largest market. But Apple also showed the Chinese government that criticism through the media gets results, and we may end up seeing more stories like this one as Apple continues its forays into Asia.

Jacqui Cheng
Jacqui is an Editor at Large at Ars Technica, where she has spent the last eight years writing about Apple culture, gadgets, social networking, privacy, and more. Emailjacqui@arstechnica.com//Twitter@eJacqui

Actions speak louder than words.After the apology, concrete action should follow.Its like when you apologize to your wife/gf etc, you dont only say your sorry, you actually 1) Avoid what caused the problem in the first place2) Take action to improve/provide whatever is lacking.Or else your apology isnt real.

It's funny how people can have opinions without a shred of information. We have no idea what is behind that, over than that the attack on Apple was staged by the Chinese government. For all we know, the State Department needed help from Beijing with North Korea, and the new Chinese rulers wanted to make a show of them defending the rights of the Chinese consumers, and demonstrate that they have power over the most respected US corporation. So the State Department gave a call to Tim Cook, and, as a good citizen, he obliged. Or got something in return. Or something else. The only thing of which we can be sure is that we don't know.

The Atlantic implied in an article that Apple is being targeted by the Chinese government, in sort of a proxy battle with the US government over various issues. Using the state controlled media and paying various public figures to publicly bad-mouth Apple.

Not a whole lot Apple can do about it, unless they want give up the Chinese market.

A request to the editors at Ars: Please provide a brief summary of the event in question when you report on a response. I realize you linked to external sources but other news outlets reserve outside links for additional information that is not vital to understanding the piece I'm reading. But after reading this article, I have no idea what Apple did to warrant an apology in the first place. This happens too frequently.

For example, it suffices to note that Apple gave only a 1 year warranty for new products instead of the 2 year warranty required by Chinese law, and that Chinese customers with defective products were given refurbished products instead of new ones as replacements, which is exceptional to China.

Not to say I can't click the link provided and read half of an external article. I can also google for any questions I have. These things aren't hard, but why should I have to do that to get necessary context for an article I'm presently reading? The New York Times would not print, "Republicans still mad about Obama's remarks on Tuesday" and then fail to describe what the remarks actually were and why Republicans were offended.

I don't know why news outlets are making this sound like Tim Cook was genuflecting in front of his Chinese overlords. Isn't it normal to apologize when a company violates a country's laws (see: Apple warranties in Italy, Google privacy in Germany) and treats the customers of one country worse than those of any other country?

Also, we can hardly accuse China of media hysteria (in this case) when our own media's reaction to the introduction of Apple maps was apocalyptic (and resulted in an apology by Tim Cook, btw). And that seemed like a much more minor complaint.

I think this reflects our own biases against China, rather than a case of Tim Cook swearing fealty to a brutal oligarchy. Why shouldn't Chinese consumers get an apology when American, Italian, German and French consumers get one?

The Atlantic implied in an article that Apple is being targeted by the Chinese government, in sort of a proxy battle with the US government over various issues. Using the state controlled media and paying various public figures to publicly bad-mouth Apple.

Not a whole lot Apple can do about it, unless they want give up the Chinese market.

This whole issue was a result of a poor warranty policy in China when compared to the rest of the world.

China doesn't have a customer-service driven retail culture, so that's no surprise. Apple China was just doing what any other Chinese retailer would do: putting the onus on the customer to prove the hardware was defective, and doing the minimum required to fix it ("here, have this second-hand, non-refurbished iPhone as a replacement, don't mind the scratches").

However, you can understand Chinese consumers making a fuss about paying more for Apple goods than in most other countries, and getting far worse service.

Remember, huge numbers of Chinese students attend overseas universities in countries like the US and Australia. I'm sure during that time, many of them got used to Apple actually offering them good support, then were shocked to see that the support in China was seriously shoddy when they ended up back home.

So consumers created a fuss on the internet, complaining about how Apple service in China was appalling when compared to what they were used to in other countries. The Chinese media ran with it and used it as a way to show they were in touch with the people.

If anything, it shows the Chinese media are more switched-on than ever, and know how to take advantage of internet campaigns to create a positive image for the state.

It's an authoritarian, oligarch absolutist regime where the means of production are controlled by the State (i.e., national socialism).

It's unfortunate that you are getting a lot of knee-jerk downvotes since the comparison is actually fairly accurate. China's no longer "Communist" economic system is similar in many ways to the National Socialist economy. The one major thing that China lacks in comparison to NSDAP Germany is the cult of personality surrounding a supreme leader.

The Atlantic implied in an article that Apple is being targeted by the Chinese government, in sort of a proxy battle with the US government over various issues. Using the state controlled media and paying various public figures to publicly bad-mouth Apple.

Or maybe Apple just has really, really bad customer service in China, and the fuss on Chinese internet forums that started this whole saga was genuine.

Then the state run media saw an easy win, and went along with it to create some anti-American headlines, and a perception that they actually care about the everyday concerns of (middle class) Chinese.

It was an easy win for the Chinese media, and they blew it out of all proportion to the point that it dominated the news.

However, at a time when there is a serious graft crackdown in China, with prominent party figures being quietly removed over their corruption, it is much better to lead the nightly Xinwen Lianbo news with: "We investigate Apple's warranty practices" than "another party secretary stood down due to corruption allegations".

It's an authoritarian, oligarch absolutist regime where the means of production are controlled by the State (i.e., national socialism).

It's unfortunate that you are getting a lot of knee-jerk downvotes since the comparison is actually fairly accurate. China's no longer "Communist" economic system is similar in many ways to the National Socialist economy. The one major thing that China lacks in comparison to NSDAP Germany is the cult of personality surrounding a supreme leader.

Regarding the cult of personality: Just like Lenin remained the sainted founder of Party mythology (even as he personally requested, for instance, that one in "x" landlords be illegally executed just to set an example among the farmers), the Chinese regime has yet to renounce Mao.

Mind you, because of his crimes and the mass starvation caused by Mao's Great Leap Forward, Mao caused the death of 40 million, and therefore caused more deaths than each Stalin and Hitler. The Soviets censured Stalin for at least some of his 20 million deaths in 1956, but the Chinese mafia continues to hold Mao as a saint.

Regarding the "move" of China from Communism to its current setup: this is only a surprise to those who are ignorant of, or want to hide, the fact that there is very little air between Socialism and National Socialism.